Rocket Wednesday: Rockets Of The (Close) Future

     This week has proven very timely for rocket Wednesday with the announcement of the new rocket from Space X. While the era of Saturn Vs and N1s was awesome and produced some of the most powerful machinery ever conceived, these day the race to space is being dominated by companies rather than governments.
     Of particular interest is the company Space X, so far in their history they have successfully tested several rockets including the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 which may go into use fairly soon. they have also developed capsules that can carry human beings. Still up until recently the heavy lifting class of rockets was untouched by corporate entities.
      That is until now, meet the Falcon Heavy

tip of the hat to Bad Astronomy

     The Falcon Heavy is a revolutionary rocket that significantly out-classes every modern rocket. It is capable of lifting 53 metric tons (or half of a blue whale according to wolfram alpha) and is remarkably cheaper than any other option. With the Falcon Heavy you can put objects up at a price of only $1000/pound which is, for comparison, 1/10th of the price for lift on the Space Shuttle.
     It is a chemical based rocket that functions a bit like the space shuttle during launch. It will launch with the full body and will then eject the two side pods at a certain altitude leaving only the central rocket to keep going. An animation can be seen at their site (along with videos of some of their other launches).
     Rockets like the Falcon Heavy will serve an important role as the key beginning rockets for the next generation of private space ventures.
     May the stars shine brightly in your skies!